Highmark Medicare Agency Contact Info Update
Highmark wants to ensure we have the most current demographic records for our Medicare agencies. We are asking that all direct agencies currently selling or receiving renewals for Highmark Medicare products please provide updated demographic information through the survey link. Read more.
AHIP's 2018 Medicare online training closing soon - Complete your training today
AHIP's 2018 Medicare + Fraud, Waste and Abuse Training will close on Friday, June 15, 2018 at 12:01am CT and will no longer be available. Read more.
Save the date for the 2019 Medicare Connections Conference
The 2019 Medicare Connections Conference will be held on September 5th at the Hershey Lodge. Learn more.
Expand your insurance services to better serve your clients
You worked hard all AEP to make sure that your clients Medicare needs are met. Don’t lose them to another agent who offers products that you don’t. URL has created our Orion Concierge Advisors program to help you retain your clients and you will be compensated for generating the opportunity! See details.
Why URL Should Be Your FMO
As you're gearing up for the Annual Enrollment Period it's time to re-evaluate your relationship with your current Medicare FMO. Watch our video.
SilverScript Marketing Agent Update - New Agent Portal
In the evening of June 15, the SilverScript Agent Portal will be unavailable while we prepare to launch the NEW SilverScript Agent Portal. Read more.
Equitable | Discontinuation of Medicare Supplement Plans
Equitable Life & Casualty (Equitable) has long been committed to providing consumers with products that supplement Medicare, from the earliest plans following the enactment of Medicare to the current standard plans established by the NAIC in 2010. Read more.
UnitedHealthcare | NEW! Voice Signature for AARP Medicare Supplement Insurance Plans
Great news - as of May 15, 2018, UnitedHealthcare is releasing an updated voice signature capability in LEAN™ for AARP® Medicare Supplement Insurance Plans, insured by UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company. Read more.
Cigna-Healthspring | New One-Page Scope of Appointment Now Available!
We are happy to announce our newly redesigned one-page Scope of Appointment (SOA) is approved and ready for use. Read more.
Mutual of Omaha | Express - May 2nd
Effective May 4, 2018, you may begin selling our new competitively priced Medicare supplement in New Jersey underwritten by Omaha Insurance Company and Maryland underwritten by United of Omaha Life Insurance Company. Read more.
Gateway Health | News for Faxing Applications
With the new MBI we are forced to make some changes to the enrollment process for faxed applications. Read more.
Aetna | New video, special business hours, and more [eBulletin May 21, 2018]
Looking for a way to expand your sales portfolio and offer new options for your clients? Read more.
Mutual of Omaha Med Supp Broker Bonus Program
Mutual of Omaha is continuing the Med Supp Broker Bonus Program… with a few tweaks. Read more.
New Era Life Summer Cash Bonus Contest Has Begun!
New business cash bonus. Read more.
2018 Aetna Hidden Oasis Senior Supplemental Sales Contest | Spring 2019
Experience Hollywood's playground, Palm Springs... Aetna-style. Read more.
Win Big with Lead Concepts
Lead concepts - helping businesses find and retain customers since 1991. Read more.
2018 Cigna Sales Incentive Trip | June 21-25, 2018
Come escape with us to Canada’s “Castle in the Rockies.” We’re welcoming our top producers to the world-famous Fairmont Banff Springs resort. Read more.
2019 Mutual of Omaha Dominican Republic Sales Leader Trip | March 13-18, 2019
You are eligible to earn the Mutual Sales Leaders trip to Dominican Republic based on the business you place with Mutual of Omaha as a Brokerage Producer. Read more.
Aetna | Want to earn some extra dough?
Your Medicare Supplement applications could earn you EXTRA CASH during 2018! Read more.
AARP | June Webinar Training Calendar
Training for the month of June. Read more.
6/13 Capital BlueCross Enrollment Refresher / Online Directory
Come learn about our new CRM system, How to receive a lead / disposition a lead, Notes, Manage your policies. Register now.
6/26 Vibra Health Plan New Online Provider Finder
Vibra Health Plan will be holding a webinar on Tuesday, June 26th at 10:00am to review their new Online Provide Finder tool. Register now.
7/11 Capital BlueCross OTC (over the counter) benefit / silver and fit /Retail store benefits
Come join us for some great info about the OTC benefit and how it works. Why should beneficiaries participate in a fitness program? Learn how the retail Store can help as you gear up for AEP. Register now.
Trump Plan to Lower Drug Prices Could Increase Costs for Some Patients
When President Trump unveiled his plan to lower prescription drug prices in a Rose Garden speech last month, he said he would inject more competition into the market by bolstering negotiating powers under Medicare. Read more.
Feds: Skimping can’t save seniors from rising med cost
Medicare recipients filled fewer prescriptions for pricey brand-name drugs — but spent more on such meds anyway, says a government report released Monday. It blames rising manufacturer prices for squeezing older people and taxpayers. Read more.
Medicare Part B premiums devouring many retirees' Social Security increase, survey shows
For many of the 47 million older Americans on Social Security, getting a 2 percent cost-of-living increase in their 2018 benefits has been a bust. Read more.
New bill aims to make sure Medicare customers get drug discounts
A bipartisan House bill would require discounts for drugs in Medicare's prescription drug program to be applied when the medicine is bought at the pharmacy, an effort to make sure that customers get the full discount instead of a cut going to insurers and drug middlemen. Read more.
Oncologists sue HHS over Medicare Part B sequester cuts
Oncologists sued HHS Thursday over the continued 2% cuts to Medicare Part B drug reimbursements packed in the budget sequester, claiming Congress never gave HHS authority to change the reimbursement formula. Read more.
Medicare costs could rise by more than 200 percent for these retirees
This year, high-income retirees can expect to shell out even more money to cover their Medicare premiums. Read more.
Official Gives Hints About Medicare Advantage LTC Benefits
Starting in 2019, Medicare Advantage plans can cover adult day care services, and in-home help with activities such as dressing, bathing and managing medications, a top Trump administration official said Wednesday. Read more.
Advocacy groups blast CMS for incorrectly promoting MA plans, misleading beneficiaries
Three Medicare beneficiary groups say the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is improperly propping up Medicare Advantage plans by misinforming beneficiaries through official educational documents. Read more.
GAO calls on CMS to continue prior authorization experiments
The CMS hasn't moved to continue prior authorization experiments even though they could save Medicare billions of dollars, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.Under the experiments, the CMS only pays for some items and services after providers and medical product suppliers have shown they complied with coverage and payment rules. Read more.
Seniors paid more for generics in Medicare Part D plans
Even before the much-debated spike in generic drug prices occurred a few years ago, seniors who obtained these medicines through Medicare Part D plans were increasingly paying more than they had previously, according to a new analysis. Read more.
Out-of-Pocket Costs Vary Significantly for Medicare Parts B and D
President Trump's call to lower prescription drug prices by leveraging Medicare must accommodate significant price differences. Read more.
Part D plan sponsors face compliance action on drug gag orders, CMS warns
Medicare Part D plan sponsors that fail to ensure beneficiaries are paying the cheapest price for their drugs could face compliance action, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has said in a letter sent out Friday. Read more.
Seema Verma gives update on CMS plans to reduce drug prices
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma today unveiled the agency's enhanced drug pricing dashboards, a key piece in efforts to control the cost of medications. Read more.
Trump’s Attempt to Shame Drugmakers Shows Medicare Costs Soaring
The U.S spent 60 percent more on drugs for Medicare patients in 2016 than it did in four years earlier, according to newly released federal data, countering pharmaceutical industry arguments that prescription medicine represents only a small and stable portion of health-care costs. Read more.
Trump’s Plan for Cheaper Health Insurance Could Have Hidden Costs
President Trump’s plan to expand access to skimpy short-term health insurance policies, as an alternative to the Affordable Care Act, would affect more people and cost the government more money than the administration estimated, an independent federal study says. Read more.
Why baby steps toward cheaper drugs are the best we can do
On the stump, Donald Trump the candidate promised big changes in the way America buys prescription drugs — allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices directly with pharmaceutical manufacturers, and allowing Americans to buy at the prices that Canada has negotiated by importing drugs from abroad. Read more.
New Medicare Perk: Diabetes Prevention
Millions of U.S. seniors can now take part in a Medicare program designed to prevent prediabetes from progressing to type 2 diabetes. Read more.
Official Gives Hints About Medicare Advantage LTC Benefits
Starting in 2019, Medicare Advantage plans can cover adult day care services, and in-home help with activities such as dressing, bathing and managing medications, a top Trump administration official said Wednesday. Read more.
Improving Prediction of Dementia in Primary Care
The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) is one of the most widely used instruments to screen for cognitive deficits; however, this instrument alone is not sensitive enough to detect early symptoms of dementia. Read more.
House bill seeks to improve CMS oversight of opioid abuse
A bill to requiring plan sponsors of Medicare Advantage and Part D drug plans to report cases of opioid fraud and abuse to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) was introduced in the House. Read more.
U.S. to consider expanding Medicare drug price negotiation
The Trump administration is considering expanding Medicare’s ability to negotiate the cost of drugs by giving private payers a role in setting the price of medicines administered in hospitals and doctors’ offices, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said on Monday. Read more.
CMS Increases Payments for Durable Medical Equipment
An interim final rule from CMS will increase Medicare payments for durable medical equipment to ensure beneficiary access to medical devices. Read more.
Trump lays out his vision for lower drug prices
Seeking to fulfill his longstanding promise to lower drug prices, President Donald Trump laid out his vision for increasing competition, reducing regulations and changing the incentives for all players in the pharmaceutical industry. Read more.
Medicare costs could rise by more than 200 percent for these retirees
This year, high-income retirees can expect to shell out even more money to cover their Medicare premiums. Read more.
Many Medicare ACOs would quit rather than face risk next year
Most accountable care organizations say they will disband if the CMS forces them to take on financial risk next year. Read more.
PhRMA takes aim at Medicare drug program in new ad campaign
Drug makers are ramping up their defense of Medicare’s prescription drug program with a new ad campaign set to launch in D.C. publications next week. Read more.
CMS to Up Medicare Payments, Reduce Burdens for Inpatient Rehabs
A new proposed rule would increase Medicare payments to inpatient rehabs by $75 million in 2019 and lessen the administrative burden on physicians. Read more.
CMS to simplify Medicare plan selection
The CMS is taking steps to make it easier to sort through Medicare coverage options, after a report said its current search options were badly presented and confusing and could lead some to make poor plan selections. Read more.
House Holds Hearing on Medicare Advantage Plan Operations
On Tuesday, the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee held a hearing on the Medicare Advantage program’s plan operations, quality measurements and challenges faced by emerging insurers. Read more.
White House Promotes “America First” Prescription Drug Plan
Earlier this afternoon in an event in the White House Rose Garden, President Donald Trump and HHS Secretary Alex Azar unveiled their plan for reducing the price of prescription drugs. Read more.
CMS allows payers to send evidence of coverage information electronically for the first time
Recent regulatory changes from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services could save health plans upwards of $54 million a year in mailing costs. Read more.
CMS Unveils Enhanced “Drug Dashboards” to Increase Transparency on Drug Prices
Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a redesigned version of the Drug Spending Dashboards. Read more.
